I’ve a small layout mainly freelance with some orientation on CSX in Florida. It represents an modern industry park.
The prototype would do service by a daily local freight doing the necessary switching on 8 stub tracks with small industry by the engine on the train.
Is there a chance the prototype would put a dedicated switcher (MP15DC, GB38 e.g.) fulltime in that area to speedup the daily local switching? And would the local switcher get an own small engine shed? That would be likely in 1920 with a local steam 0-6-0 but today?
I admit it is not very likely but is it pure fiction and therefor also out of the boundaries of freelance? Would it be more likely if I omit the shed and just have a short stub track for the engine?
The two picture cover the industry park. The shed is left hand on the top picture-
Very slim. It would have to handle 40-50 cars a day to make it worth while.
No way. Not needed at all. IF they did have a switcher the only thing that would be there is maybe a small shed or office. Just big enough for a desk, a printer and maybe a bathroom. No fueling facilities, no sanding facilities, nothing else. Teh locomotive would go in once a week for supplies or once a week a truck would come out and fuel and sand it. Once a month it would go in for monthly maintenance.
Its your railroad, you can do anything you like.
Yes or maybe not even that, if the engine switches the industries then you can just leave it on the lead or next to the “yard office”. Don’t really even need a an engine track.
Many many moons ago I worked on a 36 mile industrial branch in Texas that had 2 locals and 12 switch engines a day, split between 2 yards. Neither one had an engine house, a specific engine tie up track, a fueling facility or a sanding facility.
When building a model railroad, we get to choose. For things that seem on the edge of reasonable, the old adage of “there’s a prototype for everything” seems to help.
There are multiple examples of small engine sheds for short switching lines or for dedicated industries. There is a grain elevator on the north side of Interstate 70 at the Illinois/Indiana border that has it’s own SW switcher and a separate metal shed for that locomotive. The elevator is not even particularly large by Midwest standards, and its not that far to the main line (CSX, I think) that would prohibit the industry being switched by the larger line. An industrial park in Winchester, Virginia (north side of Winchester, visible on the west side of Interstate 81) also comes to mind. Likely two “busy” industries in the park and 6 or so more with sidings, yet there is a dedicated switcher… certainly well under 20 cars a day. I saw two KCS SW units parked near a Goodyear rubber plant in East Texas last Sunday, and they appeared to be stationed there near an industrial park rather than being based out of some larger railroad yard.
Any engine service facility can add all kinds of modeling interest. I notice that most short lines now use a sort of thick black rubber mat around where the locomotive sits to keep fuel oil and other pollutants from seeping into the ground. There would have to be a place where the truckload of fuel could get up pretty close to the locomotive for fueling.
I’d say use an engine shed. If it is modern time, it would most likely be a metal building. Major mechanical problems would cause the unit to be drawn back to a major shop, but having the shed can also be a good reason to have more than one switcher: One is in for replacement of some electrical part, yet
The layout photos have a lot of “believability” in them to me, both in track layout and choice of buildings.
I think both Dave and Bill make excellent points. I think a “real” railroad would not have the building, but that an industrial shortline perhaps would. And if you wanted to switch with a “real” railroad’s locomotive, you could say the shortline had either a long or short term lease. Or perhaps it was on “loan” because the shortline’s RS-1 was sent out for heavy repairs and a REPAINT. Thus, at various times, you could run the old ratty RS-1, the re-painted RS-1, and something from CSX, perhaps an Athearn GP15-1.
The shed has been removed and the engine facility is closed. The road does a 90° curve into the “off”.
The concrete paved area around the stub track will be used as an unloading facility for tank cars delivery chemicals to be used in an industry also in the “off”. Only hoses and pipes will be on the concrete running to the 'off" (and may be a very small building to do the paperwork when cars are delivered). The area will get a fence and warning signs.
I have two very short stub tracks in my staging area on the other side of the room (less that 10’ away). Switchers will be placed there to be called on the layout when necessary.
With that compromise the CSX prototype is better matched, an additional loading track is added and switchers are still on hand to work on cuts without a local freight engine present…
Thank you for the help and explanations of the operation of the prototype!
My local Florida shortline (Seminole Gulf) operates 10 locomotives. They have no fixed facilities of any sort. I have watched them chop noses on locomotives; change out prime movers and traction motors, even repaint units all outside without any kind of building at all. The locos are refueled once a week by an oil company’s delivery truck. The mechanic uses a fork lift to lift the engineer on a pallet of bagged sand to fill the sand boxes. They use an amshack type station to sell tickets for their 2 passenger trains, and the office space is leased. They do have an inspection pit on a spur track.
There is a second short line not far from here (South Central Florida Express) that does maintain some buildings including a loco shop. The choice is yours. You can just say that your railroad leases the power from CSX.
Howdy Rinnhard; Your layout is reminds me of the Sierra Northern Railway operation at the old McClellan Air Force Base, now McClellan Park, Sacramento, go to Google Maps zoom in on Sacramento, CA and McClellan Airfield, south end. It has a three stall enginehouse/office and loco track next to it, unfortunately an auto rack train on the UP mainline is blocking the enginehouse view. It interchanges cars directly with the UP (ex SP) and BNSF trains via trackage rights. I believe the SN switches less than 100 cars a day often using two mu’d GP9’s. The BNSF train is usually handled by two GPs (GP30, 38, or 40). Nice layout.
great shed. With BING the view is free. That would have been a perfect fit if I would model a short line. The various switching and transfer lines in the Chicago area have very similar sheds (e.g. CSS).
The available model engines “pushed” me into CSX and this class I railroads have huge central installations.
I looked with BING on the other side of the road and it is full with the very typical shoe box buildings. I saw them all over the US. In the north they have more often imitated brick walls and black roofs. In the south they are even more white, light gray and light brown. This kind of buildings are most time ignored by US citicens as by tourists because they are so trivial but they are very typical for modern industry parks. That is the reason why I picked them as the main theme of my layout.
Thanks for pointing me into an other very interesting area.
The tank car facility looks good. You’ll have way more fun switching it than parking an engine in the shed.
You can still scenic the spot you chose to park the engines. There will be piles of sand on the rails, with oil stains. Maybe a post with MU cable hung on it. A water hose and pallet of brake shoes and air hoses. Buy plastic tube with an ID about the diameter of a wheel.and cut rings then cut the rings into 12" sections and paint them red or rust. Buy a couple packs of air hoses and then cut the angle cocks off the hoses, paint the angle cocks black or rust and the fittings silver. Stack all those on the pallet.
For a modern railroad you could get a 20 ft container, cut a window and a door in it plus an air conditioner and park it next to where you tie up the engines. That becomes your yard office.
Howdy Reinhard; Dave in the previous post makes a good point. One of my favorite prototypes is the UP Reno Branch (ex Western Pacific). The hub of operation on the thirty mile was at Parr St. Yard, . The yard is built on a 1.9% grade and all standing cars are required to have skates (wheel chocks) as are all cars on the whole Branch. Most of the Branch is on grades up to 2%.
Locomotive servicing is at the head end of a spur used for unloading auto carrier cars. Power on the branch is a single three unit set of four axle GPs because of tight curves, steep grades and up to seventy car trains. Although toward the end SD40-2s were seen on the Branch and are now regulars.
The service facility was open air with a tank car and a two bay covered hopper for fuel and sand and a few 55 gallon drums, maintenance supplies and the usual spilled sand etc. A construction trailer provided office space (I’d use a container).
The UP/SP merger gave them a direct line into and operation on the Branch moved to the Sparks Yard. The Branch now operates from to Bo
For MU cables take a piece of wire about .020-.030 diameter and about 8 scale feet long and dip the ends in epoxy to form a drop about 6" scale size on each end. File the end flat. Paint the wire black or a pinkish red, the 'heads" silver with a black face.
A more plausible scenario might be that the industrial park gets enough traffic that they lease or buy second-hand a CSX engine to keep on the property to do the switching, so that CSX just delivers and picks up cars and the company engine (still lettered CSX) does the actual switching. Around the midwest here that’s pretty common in say large grain facilities. I would keep the engine house for the engine, looks good and doesn’t seem out of place in your pics.
BTW here we generally say “engine house”, “shed” is English English not American English. [:)]
Reinhard,First what a sweet lookin’ ISL you have there.[tup]
Now for your question…A industrial area could have a dedicated crew and switcher that works that and other nearby industrial areas.However,if there is a terminal nearby then the crew would work out of that yard.A local could handle the switching as well.
Now if a decated locomotive was station there there would be no engine house and a fuel contractor would refuel the locomotive.More then likely the crew would arrive by crew wagon,contract taxi or their personal vehicles.There may be a small building there for crew use.This would contain a desk,chairs,maybe a computer,printer and company telephone.
Just for fun.
Looking over the industries and depending on the amount of work it would take a crew 30 mintues to 2 hours to work those industries
I’m thinking about a modified scenario without modifying the layout.
The little industry park is served by two railroads. The huge CSX passes by drops and picks cars and goes on. The CSX road engine has to do the business.
A second much smaller class III railroad is active too. They may do their own switching and the switching for CSX. They may have an engine most of the time at the spot. An old container is their office with some neat arranged items as outline some posts earlier.
I got two Kato NW2 with outstanding performance. I got some space shell from Kato too. Today I picked an old black UP shell removed the UP lettering, left the horizontal yellow stripes in place and added a “1” and “2” at the cab sides. This is the “unknown” class III RR.
Altas announced the MP15DC of St.Marys RR in September. They should be available in February. While SM is today not directly connecting with CSX (it did in the past) and it is in GA but FL it is close enough for a freelance layout (and the SM colors are beautiful!. It’s pity Kingsland, GA has nothing in common with my layout and is not very well suited to be modeled.
ps. Did you get the two mails?
pps. Stix, did you notice the updated subject line[:)]
Small engine house on my current layout.